I'd agree with Stipe for established bands, but what about up & comers?
IE
Had this not caught my eye when it was on MuchMoreMusic a couple weeks ago, I wouldn't have turned up the volume. Now I've to see if they're consistently like this before getting a CD, I don't want to fuck up like I did with Carbon Leaf a few months ago.
I haven't watched the new R.E.M. video yet (< R.E.M. fanatic), it doesn't interest me.
Except for "Window in the Skies", I don't care about U2's videos either.
I'd like to see more Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder videos -- partly because they don't seem to make many, and they wouldn't waste my time with dumb shit. (+ Vedder's "Hard Sun" was unusually good).
It could be that the video era may have contributed to the downturn of the industry: compare the cost of promoting radio airplay with that of videos which
everyone had to make, and we're not talking about chump change.
ew sneezing on the screen icky